"Dr. Heidegger's Experiment:" Story Analysis

Author’s  Biography:

Nathaniel Hawthorne was born on 4 July 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts in the family home at 27 Hardy Street, now a museum. His childhood was calm, a little isolated but far from unhappy, especially since as a handsome and attractive only son he was idolized by his mother and his two sisters. Hawthorne attended Bowdoin College from 1821 to 1825. At Bowdoin, Hawthorne read widely and received solid instruction in English composition and the classics, particularly in Latin. Hawthorne was not interested in entering any of the traditional professions; he was an avid reader and already writing his own short stories and had many published in magazines. In Boston on 9 July 1842, Hawthorne married painter and fellow transcendentalist Sophia Peabody with whom he would have three children; daughters Una (1844-1877) and Rose (1851-1926), and future author Julian Hawthorne (1846-1934). Nathaniel Hawthorne died on 19 May 1864. Hawthorne lies buried on Author’s Ridge in the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Concord, Massachusetts.

Short Summary:

It is the story about four friends with who Dr Heidegger wanted to prove an experiment. Their lives had been very miserable and unfortunate with the pass of the years. Dr. Heidegger invited them to his house. Once they were together he pass them into his laboratory. That place has very unusual, dusty and dark. The laboratory had a painting of a young woman dressed with silk, Sylvia, who one time was Dr Heidegger’s fiancé. The Doctor grabbed one of those books and took out a brown and almost crumbling rose. Before the first try for the experiment, Heidegger explains to his friends that the rose was given for the woman with he would marry once and she have died because of a medicine he gave her for an illness. He have been keeping the rose for fifty five years. In a table was a glass vase with a liquid like water, suddenly Dr Heidegger poured some of that water to the rose, and the rose starts to bloom again. Their friends were very surprised and he explained that the “water” was from the Fountain of Youth. Whoever drink of that water will be young again. The experiment was at first for his friends and they asked about it. Before Dr Heidegger will give them some liquid he said, "You have to think first about your mistakes in the past to not commit them again". So they drank. All of them were young again, but they actually forgot about what they did and start all over again to do the same mistakes. Mr. Gascon, Mr Medbourne and Colonel Killigrew start fighting for whom they fought once, the young at that moment, Widow Wycherly. They were so thirsty for that magic water, they didn’t hear a thing about what Dr Heidegger told them, and started to make plans to find where the “Fountain of Youth” was.    

Plot:

Conflict:

 Dr. Heidegger invited his friends to make an experiment with them.

Rising Actions:

- He invites 3 old friends and 1 old woman friend to his house.
- He passed them to his laboratory.

- He asks for help with an experiment.
- He uses the rose given for his dead fiancé to they see what is the experiment about.

Climax:

Dr. Heidegger’s friends drank the “water” and became young again.

Resolution:

Their friends didn’t think about their past mistakes and with the “new youth” they just want to do whatever they wanted but now young again.

Characters:

Dr Heidegger	Mr Gascon	Mr Medbourne	Colonel Killigrew	Widow Wycherly
A very wise man, but strange too. He lost his beautiful fiancé for an illness she had.	He was a old man that have lost everything, once he was a politician.  A white beard man.	A greedy man who lost his fortune. Also a white beard man.	He was a soldier but had troubles with his health because he ate and drank too much.	Once was a beautiful young woman but conceited. Now she owns a white hair.

Moral:

Sometimes persons commit mistakes in their lifes that determined situations in their living. Have a second chance it not always easy. At that point you have to prove to got over the past situation and learned from it, and do it all over again but the best you can and always remembering the fail.

Irony:

It is kind of funny how those persons had the opportunity to live once again their youth and they didn’t learn a thing from the past mistakes. And see them like crazies trying to find the way to have always that “Fountain” to make with the water, whatever they want.

"Three Hundred Pesos:" Story Analysis

About the author

Manuela Williams Crosno was born in 1905 and died in 1977. She lived most of her life in New Mexico. She decided to use her state as the setting for her stories, because of the love she had for it. Usually she wrote her stories about the Spanish settlers for her interest in that culture. Crosno taught for many years as an English teacher, and was a poet, artist and illustrator too. One of her articles “Why I teach school” won the First Prize in a statewide writing contest.

Summary of the story

Emilio and Anastacio were two brothers, and Berta was their sister. At the begging of the story Emilio asked to his brother Anastacio for one peso, because his son was sick. He deny borrowing him some money explaining him in an awful way, he doesn’t have responsibilities of a family, why should he borrow him money for that. Anastacio’s only dream was to own his Store food, and he would do whatever it needs to be able to have one with the  harvesting of his field. In July of that year his sister Berta came to his house to ask for some money. Her house has suffered damages for a tree with the hailstones, but as usually he only though about himself and he didn’t help to his sister and husband neither. After two failed crops, he noticed that where he kept the money, some pesos had been stolen. His money to achieve the store food was incomplete. He started to harvest once more the field. It looked like finally he would have those extra pesos he was missing to buy his shop. He was going to the valley to sell his perfect harvest of pinto beans, but in the road he suffered an accident, letting him very bad, and with his crop all over the ground. The person who caused the accident paid him all the pinto beans Anastacio have lost. Just minutes after that moment, his brother and sister looked his horses coming where they were working on their field, and right away they ran where Anastacio was. He was already dead. His sister was crying, while his brother, Emilio, was too sad. They saw in Anastacio’s hand fifty pesos, and in his leather bag, where he carried the other money, two hundred fifty pesos more. They couldn’t believe he had so much money with him, so they decided to use it for  the  Anastacio’s beautiful funeral.

Plot

Conflict:

Anastacio wanted to have the enough money (300 pesos) to own his store.

Rising Action:

1.      Emilio, his brother, asked one peso to Anastacio for his son, who was sick.

2.      During a hailstones’ storm, Anastacio lost his corn crop.

3.      Berta, his sister, went to ask some money to Anastacio, because she and her husband lost their house with a tree in the storm.

4.      All Anastacio’s field was destroyed by a flock of wandering sheep.

5.      Anastacio harvested pinto beans to sell them in the valley in fifty pesos.

6.      On the road to the valley, he suffered a accident losing all his pinto beans.

7.      The person owner of the wagon who caused the accident paid him for the pinto beans Anastacio had lost.

Climax:

When Anastacio finally was rich, he died for the impact of the accident.

Resolution:

All the money Anastacio had earned would be used by his brother and sister for his beautiful funeral.

Characters

Anastacio: Main character. He was a very selfish and egotistical person. He didn’t care about nobody and anything but himself and have a store.

Emilio:  Anastacio’s brother. A nice person, who worried about their family.

Berta: Anastacio’s sister. A good woman, also worried about her family and hardworker woman.

Moral teaching

In the world exist every kind of person, with a lot of different personalities, and even in the same family you could find huge differences. One moral of the story would be: “Family comes first” You always have to help the person who is needy in any way, and still better if is your family. And the other moral: “Don’t let money be so important in life” No matter what happen trying to achieve happiness, money can’t be your whole life, because at the end, can finish being your long way to ruin.

My opinion

I can say, I do like the story but at the same time I hate it. The only reason of hate is because of Anastacio. It can’t be real so much selfishness in one person with their own family, with the purpose of goal a dream. Is true what the people says “Bad things happens to those persons who does bad things “, related with “Karma”. And what I like is so much was the honesty with their dead brother. No matter what he did to them, they kept thinking it was his money, so they had to use it for his beautiful funeral.